An Attempt to Delineate the Complexity of Online Learning. A Book Critique.

 

An Attempt to Delineate the Complexity of Online Learning. A Book Critique.

The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (Routledge, n.d.)  is a book written by the Routledge publishing house. For each of its chapters, the book summarizes and advertises other books written by experts on the field of online pedagogy (Ko & Rossen,2010; Laurillard, 2012; Littlejohn & Pegler, 2013; Means, Bakia & Murphy, 2014; Salmon, 2012; Vai & Sosulski, 2011, The Theory and Practice of online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals, n.d.).

Not only is this book intended to retell what was written in other related works, but it also contends that reading from specialists may help bridge the gap between onsite teaching practices and the new modality of online education. The audience being explicitly addressed includes academic professionals, faculty members and teachers interested in the application of online learning strategies. The word guide in the title gives the impression of being a prescriptive manuscript from which readers can adopt practical ideas and tools to apply to their online classrooms. However, this book provides little actual tips and instructions to start designing a web-based education programme and more of qualitative historical research and general knowledge, hence making it unappealing to read and futile for the prospective teacher undertaking the challenge of delivering online lessons.

The key aspects of online teaching are succinctly explained in chapter one. Online vs. onsite learning, the role of both teacher and students and the skills set required for online teaching are discussed. Even though some online skills are enumerated, there are scarce details on how to acquire them and a heavy reliance on the personal traits of the individual, such as inner motivation and creativity as shown below.

Faculty of all ranks who are enthusiastic about the possibilities offered by online teaching- and who are willing to invest some time in learning new technology and methods for the sake of personal and professional growth - are good candidates for teaching online. (Ko & Rossen cited in The Theory and Practice…, n.d., p. 12)

Chapter two provides clear information concerning the differences of online asynchronous learning, such as the lack of physical space and the basics of online content and communication, flexibility and time allocation (Vai & Sosulski cited in The Theory and Practice..., n.d.). In addition, a list of the distinct generations of learners is characterized using simple and intelligible language, calling for reflection and inviting the audience to empathise with their students.

Throughout chapter three, the authors delineate the features of e-tivities, a term coined by Salmon (Salmon, cited in The Theory and Practice..., n.d.) but the chapter fails to provide relevant data as regards their implementation. Although this book was intended  to be a guide for practice, the readers are left with the feeling of having to experience all by themselves to master the design of web-based activities. “To be successful in designing and running e-tivities you will need some passion and commitment.” (Salmon, cited in The Theory and Practice..., n.d. p. 38) evidences the undue stress that is put on the self.

Chapter four appropriately delves into the variety of online programmes available and provides data in the form of tables and figures, making the information available at a glance. On the negative side, some of the evidence presented results vague and overgeneralized, consequently affecting the author’s credibility like in the following example “Some researchers found that learning interventions [...] were more effective than those [...].”(Means et al., cited in The Theory and Practice..., n.d. p. 42).

Reusing Open Resources (Littlejohn & Pegler, cited in The Theory and Practice..., n.d.), in chapter five, misleads the audience by hinting the possibility of acquiring practical knowledge about specific resources to turn to when in need. Nevertheless, it ends up being a sociological presentation about the impact of making resources free of charge for everyone, which is most probably useless for teachers who want to work online. 

Finally, chapter six compares designing online courses with both an art, due to its creative side and a science because it is based on pedagogical foundations and improved overtime with its implementation. But even though design is considered a scientific discipline, there are no clear prescriptions on how to design using technology to our advantage as one may expect from a scientific method.

In conclusion, for this book to be useful for getting to know both the Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning (Routledge, n.d.), as the title promises, the authors would have had to deepen the theme presented focusing more on the practical aspects of online instruction as most teachers already know how to plan according to their subject matter and students’ level for onsite teaching but stall when developing online content and material. In no way do the authors provide the reader with a tool i.e.: a website or app to be investigated or even tips to be put into practice. Having done that, the authors could have appealed to the reader more efficiently, hence making the book worth reading.

 

 

 

References

 

 

Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2010). Teaching online: A practical guide (3rd ed). In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 8-15). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

 

Laurillard, D. (2013). Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 57-60). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

 

Littlejohn, A., & Pegler, C. (Eds.). (2014). Reusing open resources: Learning in open networks for work, life and education. In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 47-55). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Means, B., Bakia, M., & Murphy, R. (2014). Learning online: What research tells us about whether, when and how. In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 40-45). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

 

Routledge. (n.d.) The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (3rd ed). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Retrieved from: https://n9.cl/k85v2

 

Salmon, G. (2013). E-tivities: The key to active online learning. In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 29-38). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

 

Vai, M., & Sosulski, K. (2015). Essentials of online course design: A standards-based guide. In Routledge, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (pp. 17-27). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.